jennihsurf

yoga feeds my soul. ahimsa… 🙂 i feel so different everytime i bow to the teacher after each class.
i’ll say namaste from my heart and say thanks for all the peace and love we share with each other
i’ll smile knowing i have loved my body and be in harmony with myself.
Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self control. Energy within and energy without.

I love partner yoga!
it’s about trusting your partner. and opening up to your partner… knowing he or she will be there to help/back you up anytime.
Trust. something we all lack of these days no?

***

i made a decision to let go a few things today.
Ive never felt better 🙂

my usual regular class with kok is not happening today. a replacement teacher came for the advance class and 5 minutes after the class start, almost half of the peeps walked out.

the instructor teach all basic core poses and some of the regulars cant stand the basic class so they all left before we actually go deep into the practice.

altho the replacement instructor dint teach hardcore poses like kok… but his class is interesting nevertheless. his focus is more on opening up the chest and lengthening the spine. we had to get it really right like the pros as in 90degrees angles and such.

Felix (the instructor) kept making me the example to the whole class.. T_______________T

first he commented that all the students did the downward dog wrong. and we were supposed to be like advance students so my guess was some got pissed off and walked away =.=”

then he commented that i did it right but in a way still wrong and ask me to demonstrate my dwdog to the whole class.

apparently my dwdog will be in a perfect form if i open up my chest more =.= and do not arch my back. it was kinda confusing actually but also a learning experience. i couldnt “open” my chest any more and all i could do is bend lower to the dog and in actually.. that wasn’t suppose to be the way. the focus should be on opening up the chest more..

we continue to deepen our asanas by doing a series of crazy backbending, which again, focuses on opening up the chest.

first.. the standing backbend.

it’s crazy………. felix can do a standing backbend thats is so freaky i dont even know how to describe.

it was crazy painful to stay in this position. i was screaming for help =.= then felix commented that it will be a little tough for me coz i have round shoulders. (T__T yea its sad.. hunchback family trait)

then we move on with some basic core poses like the warrior poses but on the advance variation. the trick to a good warrior pose is not to arch your back but to tuck your tailbone in and again, to open up the chest.

finally we came to the highlight of the class.. more backbends.

we did one round of Urdhva Dhanurasana so that felix can check the way how we normally do it. =.=
then he commented that i do it beautifully because i’m flexible and made me demonstrate to the class again. T.T then comes the part where we move on with variations. everyone was so used to doing the wheel pose with the knees wide apart but when we were to place our knees in between a block and keep it there for as long as we can.

it was torturous. T.T

our back hurts like hell after that.. T___T

then the highlight of the class was Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana(Upward Facing Two-Foot Staff Pose) which looks like this

T_____________T

the key to mastering yoga… is to always master the basics and core first. the core meaning your abs.
flexibility comes in second. and frankly speaking.. i suck at core. T___________T i hate abs workout cause it makes me breathless.. T.T

to end the night.. felix told the class that it’s normal that yoga practitioners gets drifted from the basics once they get used to some poses. and being flexible is actually not a good thing. it actually meant that you’re actually ill =.=”

that got me so worried i raised up my hand and ask what sickness.. =.=”

apparently people who are flexible are mostly bones =.=”. And so, all the twisting and flexing comes from the bones and not the core muscles. so eventually one fine day.. we will crash from working our bones too much and that’s not good. the most important thing is to work up our core muscles so that the muscles support our poses and not our bones.

😀 i’ve learnt new things and yes.. it’s enlightening. 🙂

***

my back hurts like hell now. although it’s a crazy class but i enjoy every bit of it. namaste felix.

now all i wish is a good night sleep.

Lokah samastha sukhino bhavanthu.
(May this world be established with a sense of well-being and happiness.)
love. peace. harmony.

I hope you all have a wonderful yoga experience with every class you attend because that is what i always have in my mind at the start of each of my class.

Everytime before class, even if i’m late, i tell myself that for today’s lesson, i will leave all my doubts, fears and troubles, problems, worries , friends, work, colleagues, everything at all outside the class in a black bag. I’d place the bag at the corner and walk in lighter. I’d close my eyes and imagine positive air flowing around me. And i breathe in only goodness.

Goodness from my fellow yoga practitioners.

Goodness from my teacher.

Goodnes from my body.

🙂

I plant a smile on my face and start my practices.

***

Yesterday i had a very weird class tho.

It’s usual that in an intermediate class the instructor (Kok) would ask us to the the bridge pose but yesterday.. somehow perhaps we were all regulars, we went to really crazy poses. which i really like because i missed my advanced class on monday. 😀

My fav yoga pose all time is definately the bridge aka Dhanurasana.

I believe with patience and practices.. everyone can achieve this pose. If you practise long enough.. you’d realize yogis have a heavier upper body and a super lean waist when achieving this pose. It looks kinda freaky like this.

Yes.. even guys can do it. 🙂 The lungs and chest part are especially heavier as all the air is pushed out of the system. 🙂 when i saw my wheel pics from the yoga session i had @ bali.. it looks like that and it kinda make me happy cause at least i know, i am doing it right. 🙂

But after the wheel… Kok made us do a variation to wheel which is the eka pada urdhva dhanurasana aka one legged wheel.

It looks like this. 🙂

nice huh. 🙂

this is one of my fav pose as well. kinda tiring and all but the sensation…. totally worth it.

Now you might think that’s all we did huh.

nonono… it did not just end there… I learnt new poses in yesterday’s class and it made my wrist hurt like hell but still.. i love the challenge!

🙂

This is the eka pada viparita dandasana or shoulder one legged wheel. phew. looks easy but i kid you not………… its SUPER HARDDDDDD T_________T

Next up?

Okay.. i dont think there’s a sanskrit term for the subsequent poses because i cant seem to google them or i’m dumb 🙁 but the next pose, we did a ONE HAND one legged wheel. OMG?

It’s like trying to lift your leg and hand in a wheel position.. SUPER HARD!!! and kok demonstrate it to us like… damn easy =.=” phew.

And that’s not about it.

to rep all the backbends…

guess what

a DHANURASANA PUSH UP!!!

oh mi gawd.

5 x wheel pushup.

Altho i manage to finish the 5 rep… my wrist hurt like hell after that. but it is my first time doing a wheel push up and it’s so … awesome and crazy and torturous!

My next round..i aim to do 6! 😛 hehe.

When i saw my reflextion on the glass mirrors while doing the push up.. i have this crazy idea running in my head. Like.. how can i actually do it omg. =.=”

anyhoo…

i shall rest for at least 2-3 days before my next class but i am having an urge to go for a simple class today. 😀 hehe. we’ll see. 🙂

***

till then. namaste and enjoy this song. 🙂

off the lights. close your eyes and lie down. just listen to the song. 🙂

***

by the end of my classes.. i just leave that black bag wherever it belong and walk away with a lighter mind, body and soul. 🙂

Above all treasure love, moderation and humility. Love begets courage, moderation creates abundance and humility generates power. Courage without love is brutish. Abundance without moderation leads to over-indulgence and decay. Power without humility breeds arrogance and tyranny.
—B.K.S. Iyengar
I bought this book during the weekend and just a few pages from the book got me really… really inspired.

The words used were very humble and teaches the very soul of yoga. Somehow, after reading the book , i’ve known a little more about yoga and i find the title of the book very apt. It’s like an awakening or.. a new knowledge shining /enlightening me. This will surely affect my practices as i now know what to focus on during my pranayamas and asanas. 🙂 it also gives me a new light on being a vegan and the true meaning behind it. 🙂

***

Also, much thanks to furkids 😀 who twittered the name of the pose i was looking for.

A few years back when i was still in high school, i followed my mum to do some charity work and learnt a meditation healing course called “Longevitology”. I have attended the advanced class and can be considered as the pioneers for the malaysian students for Longevitology.

What is Longevitology?

Longevitology (Chang Sen Xue in Chinese, which translates as “study of long life”) is defined as one of several healing modalities intended to adjust energy flow throughout the body to improve the body’s ability to heal itself. Largely unknown outside the Asian community, Longevitology, which employs a simple laying-on-of-hands technique, is included within the general category of alternative medicine. In the United States, laying-on-of-hands techniques are often taught in nursing schools and used in hospitals to calm patients and reduce pain. Other healing modalities drawn from Asian medicine to which people refer in trying to explain Longevitology include Acupuncture, Reiki and Pranic Healing, among others. However, there are substantial differences between them, and Longevitology (Chang Sen Xue) should not be confused with these other modalities. For example, the techniques employed by Reiki practitioners and Longevitology practitioners are quite different from one another.

Anyways. With Longevitology, i have my chakras “opened” (lack of better words), and ever since, i am very much interested in the term chakras and it’s powers.

Our human body have 7 chakras. I believe in the power of chakras. 🙂

1. Sahasrarais positioned above the head or at the top of it and it has 1000 petals which are arranged in 20 layers each of them with 50 petals.

Sahasrara chakra symbolizes detachment from illusion; an essential element in obtaining supramental higher consciousness of the truth that one is all and all is one.

Often referred as thousand-petaled lotus, it is said to be the most subtle chakra in the system, relating to pure consciousness, and it is from this chakra that all the other chakras emanate. When a yogi is able to raise his or her kundalini, energy of consciousness, up to this point, the state of Samādhi, or union with God, is experienced. It is often related to the pineal gland and the violet color.

2. Ajna chakra is positioned at the eyebrow region and it has two petals, said to represent the psychic channels Ida and Pingala, which meet here with the central Shushumna channel before rising to the crown chakra, Sahasrara. On the left hand petal is the letter ‘ham’, and on the right the letter ‘ksham’, the bija mantras for Shiva and Shakti respectively.

Ajna is considered the chakra of the mind. When something is seen in the mind’s eye, or in a dream, it is being ‘seen’ by Ajna.

In kundalini yoga, different practices are said to stimulate the Ajna chakra, including Trataka (steady gazing), Shambhavi Mudra (gazing at the space between the eyebrows), and some forms of Pranayama (breath exercises).

Ajna is said to contain Mantrika shakti.

3. Vishuddha is positioned at the neck region and it has sixteen petals corresponding to the Sanskrit vowels.

Vishuddha is associated with the faculty of higher discrimination, between choosing what is right and wrong, and it is associated with creativity and self-expression. It is known as the ‘poison and nectar’ centre, closely related to the Bindu chakra, and the secret of immortality is said to reside there. When Vishuddha is closed, we undergo decay and death. When it is open, negative experience is transformed into wisdom and learning.

Vishuddha is said to contain Jnana Shakti.

In Kundalini yoga, Vishuddha can be opened and balanced through practices including asanas (such as shoulder-stand), pranayama, jalandhara bandha (throat lock), and Khecarī mudrā.

4. Anahata is the fourth primary chakra according to the Hindu Yogic and Tantric (Shakta) traditions.

In Sanskrit the word anahata – means unhurt, un-struck and unbeaten. Anahata Nad refers to the Vedic concept of unstruck sound, the sound of the celestial realm.

The Anahata chakra is physically positioned at the heart region. Traditionally, this chakra is represented as a green flower with twelve petals which match the vrittis of lust, fraud, indecision, repentance, hope, anxiety,longing, impartiality, arrogance, incompetence, discrimination and defiance.

Anahata is associated with the ability to make decisions outside of the realm of karma. In Manipura and below, man is bound by the laws of karma, and the fate he has in store for him. In Anahata, one is making decisions, ‘following your heart’, based upon one’s higher self, and not from the unfulfilled emotions and desires of lower nature. The wish-fulfilling tree, kalpa taru, resides here, symbolizing the ability to manifest whatever you wish to happen in the world.

It is also associated with love and compassion, charity to others, and forms of psychic healing.

In kundalini yoga, anahata is awoken and balanced through practices including asanas, pranayamas, and the practice of ajapa japa (repetition of a sacred mantra). It is purified through the process of bhakti (devotion).

5. Manipura called “city of jewels”, is the third primary chakra according to Hindu tradition.

Also called the solar plexus, manipura is “the center of etheric-psychic intuition: a vague or non-specific, sensual sense of knowing; a vague sense of size, shape, and intent of being.” As such, some psychics recommend “listening” to it since it may help in making better decisions in one’s life on many different levels.

It is positioned at the navel region and it has ten petals which match the vrittis of spiritual ignorance, thirst, jealousy, treachery, shame, fear, disgust, delusion, foolishness and sadness.

Manipura is associated with dynamism, energy, and will-power (Itcha shakti.) It is associated with the power of fire, and digestion. Manipura is said to radiate and distribute prana to the rest of the body. In this sense, it is roughly similar to the Chinese idea of the dantian in qigong.

In kundalini yoga, different practices for arousing and balancing the energies of Manipura include various asanas which work on that part of the body, pranayama, Uddiyana bandha (exhaling and pulling back and up of the abdomen and diaphragm respectively) and agnisara kriya (practicing jalandhara bandha, and moving the abdomen in and out).

6. Swadhisthana called ‘One’s own abode’ is the second primary chakra according to Hindu tradition.

Swadhisthana is positioned at the tailbone, two finger-widths above Muladhara. It has six petals which match the vrittis of affection, pitilessness, feeling of all-destructiveness, delusion, disdain andsuspicion. Its corresponding point in the front of the body (i.e. its kshetram) is at the pubic bone.

Swadhisthana is associated with the unconscious, and with emotion. It is closely related to Muladhara in that Swadhisthana is where the different samskaras (potential karmas), lie dormant, and Muladhara is where these samskaras find expression. Swadhisthana contains unconscious desires, especially sexual desire, and it is said that to raise the kundalini shakti (energy of consciousness) above Swadhisthana is extremely difficult for this reason. Many saints have had to face the temptations associated with this chakra.

Practices in kundalini yoga for controlling and balancing the energy in Swadhisthana chakra include various asanas and pranayamas.

7. Muladhara meaning “root place” is the first of the main seven chakras according to Hinduism. The root chakra is related to instinct, security, survival and also to basic human potentiality. It may be represented as red, although its root square form is usually colored yellow. That ‘lotus’ of muladhara chakra has four petals, metaphorically referring to the four vritties that find expression in this chakra: dharma (psycho-spiritual longing), artha(psychic longing), kama (physical longing) and moksha (longing for spiritual liberation).

Muladhara is said to be located at the base of the spine in the vicinity of the coccygeal plexus beneath the sacrum. Muladhara is the base from which the three main psychic channels or nadis emerge: the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna.

In kundalini yoga, there are various yogic practices held to incite the energy in Muladhara including: asanas (such as Garudasana, Shashankasana and Siddhasana); specific pranayama and importantly the practice of mula bandha which isendemic to appropriate bodymind discipline.